100-votes off in just one Kota Marudu polling station, says counting agent

A Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) counting agent told the Kota Kinabalu Election Court during the election petition trial of the Kota Marudu parliamentary seat that there was a discrepancy in the result of the SK Matunggong polling station.

Mopingki Manuring told judge Datuk Yew Jen Kie yesterday that his unofficial result for the votes cast in SK Matunggong polling station did not tally with the official result.

According to Borneo Post, Mopingki said his unofficial result showed a total of 254 votes case, with STAR Sabah obtaining 35 votes, PBS-CN 100 votes, SAPP eight votes and PKR 106 votes. There were five spoilt votes.

“However, when the official results was issued for SK Matunggong, the total votes cast were 350 which did not tally with my record,” he said in a reply to a question from counsel Fulton Mark Sitiwin.

Mopingki, 57, a farmer, was the first witness called by PKR candidate Datuk Maijol Mahap, who filed the petition on May 12, naming PBS-BN winner Datuk Dr Maximum Ongkili, the Returning Officer (RO) and the Election Commission (EC) as respondents.

Maijol, who is represented by Sitiwin, is questioning the issue on the use of indelible ink, money bribery and the failure to observe election laws, which he claimed had affected the result of the election as a whole.

On August 13, Yew had allowed Ongkili’s preliminary objections and struck him out of the petition as Maijol had not pleaded enough facts on the allegation of corrupt practices against Ongkili.

She, however, ordered a full trial against the RO and EC. She also ruled that Ongkili’s name would still remain in the petition as it would depend on the evidence adduced during the trial.

During cross-examination by senior federal counsel Mahiran Md Isa, Mopingki said at the time he was not satisfied with the vote counting process and had raised his objection.

The Borneo Post reported him as saying that the presiding officer did not announce the official result obtained by each candidate.

“The presiding officer just kept quiet,” he said, adding that after the vote counting process, the officer did nothing.

Counsel Chin Teck Ming held a watching brief for Ongkili. Hearing continues today.